Know this about Terry Francona: Asking him to go into a doubleheader with a short-handed bullpen is like asking Columbus to discover America while sailing in a bathtub.
You would have a better chance of getting Francona to wear a hairpiece.
To the Indians’ manager, relief pitchers are oxygen itself. As a manager, you can’t survive without them. All of them. There is no room for deadwood in a Francona bullpen.
On April 9, there was no room for Vinnie Pestano.
The Indians were facing the San Diego Padres in not one, but two games at Progressive Field. It was all hands on deck. All hands except Pestano. Before the start of the doubleheader, the Indians optioned Pestano to Triple-A Columbus, hands and all.
If baseball is chess, Francona is a grandmaster. If players are pieces on the chess board, Francona wants all of his — and a couple more, if possible.
In September of last year, the Indians’ bloated roster included, at Francona’s behest, 15 — count ’em, 15 — relief pitchers. It was like they had four of everything: left-handers, right-handers, long men, setup men, closers, gardeners and pool boys.
Francona was like a 6-year-old at Chuck E. Cheese’s. Everywhere he looked he saw possibilities. He had so many relievers he could bring in a new one before the old one had even reached the mound.
Tito digs relievers, OK?
What he doesn’t dig is not having enough relievers. That was the case April 9, when Francona had two games to play and a bullpen short one reliever. That’s because he couldn’t count on Pestano, the former lights-out setup man who is entering his second consecutive year of groping in the dark for the light switch to his career.
The last straw for Pestano came on April 8, when Francona brought him into a made-to-order situation for a struggling reliever: the ninth inning of a game the Indians were leading by five runs against the Padres, who are last in the National League in runs scored.
Six batters later, the Indians’ 8-3 lead was down to 8-6, and Francona was forced to do what he didn’t want to do: bring his closer into a game the day before a doubleheader, when he might need that closer — twice.
Turned out Francona only needed a closer once in the doubleheader, because the Indians hit .180 as a team (11-for-61) and could score only three runs in 18 innings of swings against two soft-tossing Padres left-handers, Eric Stults and Robbie Erlin, and a handful of relievers.
Who?
Exactly.
The Indians won the first game, 2-0, thanks to Zach McAllister, who pitched seven-plus scoreless innings, and Jason Kipnis, who hit a two-run home run.
The Indians were a combined 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the two games. The best news to come out of the twin bill was start No. 1 in year No. 2 of The Trevor Bauer Project.
The eclectic right-hander was electric in the second game, pitching six innings and allowing one earned run on four hits, with eight strikeouts and two walks.
Francona could hardly contain himself.
“He was really good. He used all his pitches, and worked ahead in the count,” Francona said. “With his stuff, and the way he’s attacking the zone now, his progress is going to come quick.”
Speaking of quick, that’s how Bauer worked. Pitch and catch, pitch and catch, pitch and catch — 93, 94, 95 mph on the fastball, plus command and control of his off-speed stuff.
“When you see a guy working quick,” said Francona, “that’s usually a guy who has a lot of confidence.”
Bauer has never lacked for that. But this was the first time in a regular-season major-league game where Bauer looked this overBauering. At one point, he struck out four batters in a row, five out of six, and seven of 13.
Bauer now returns to Triple-A Columbus after what was a spot start. But he left his calling card — the box score from this game.
We have not seen the last of Bauer on the Indians’ staff this year. Let’s just say that this would not be a good time for Carlos Carrasco to go into a pitching slump.
So the Indians won two of three from the Padres, and got three really good starts in a row from their pitchers. That’s the upside.
The only downside: 18,959. That was the attendance for the two days. Total.
For those scoring at home, it was 9,029 for the first game and 9,930 for the doubleheader. The Indians now hit the road for a week. Their next homestand begins April 18.
Plenty of good sections available.